MOSCOW - The leader of the exiled Russian Orthodox Church was in Moscow Tuesday on a mission that will reunify a church that split in 1921.

Metropolitan Laurus, who leads the New York-based church, planned to meet with Patriarch Alexy II, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, to discuss the reunification, RIA Novosti reported.

The two prelates were scheduled to sign a document establishing canonical ties on Thursday. The exiled branch of the church left in 1921 after accusing the clergy in Soviet Russia of collaborating with the Communist regime.

Hundreds of pilgrims from the United States and western Europe traveled to Moscow to witness the reunification of their church, the news agency reported.